Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery is located in the suburb of Dzerzhinsky, on the southeastern outskirts of Moscow. This is one of the largest Moscow monasteries. There is one of the tallest bell towers in Russia, and the monumental Transfiguration Cathedral is the third largest cathedral in Moscow.
According to legend, the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was founded in 1380 by Prince Dmitry Donskoy. Before the battle on Kulikovo Field, he was heading with his army to Kolomna, where he was supposed to connect with detachments of other princes. On the bank of the Moskva River, he made a halt, and here an icon of St. Nicholas appeared to him. The prince uttered the words: "This is ugresha my heart" ("It warmed my heart").
After the victory at Kulikovo Field and returning to Moscow, Dmitry Donskoy decided to found a monastery on the site of the appearance of the icon of St. Nicholas. This place was called Ugresha, and the monastery of Nikolo-Ugreshsky. For a long time, the buildings of the monastery were wooden and they were destroyed by nomads during their raids. The Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was especially badly destroyed by Crimean Khan Mehmed I Giray in 1521.
However, after all the destruction, the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery was being restored. During the Time of Turmoil, the monastery was also at the center of events. In 1602, the monk Grigory Otrepyev (False Dmitry I) fled from the Chudov Monastery to the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery from the wrath of Boris Godunov. Later he appeared in Poland and proclaimed himself "the escaped Tsarevich Dmitry". In 1610, the army of False Dmitry II was stationed here for some time before their retreat to Kaluga.
Russian princes, and then tsars, came to the monastery for pilgrimage. Most often they came here on St. Nicholas Memorial Day. Tsar Peter I visited the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery several times. After the suppression of the Streltsy revolt, he imprisoned his sister Sophia in the Novodevichy Monastery, and the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery became one of the places of detention of the Streltsy.
Most of the temples of the monastery that have survived to this day were built in the period 1858-1890. The first stone Cathedral of St. Nicholas was built in the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery in the early 16th century, but it was blown up in 1940. In 2003, St. Nicholas Cathedral was restored to its former location. It is located next to the huge Holy Trinity Cathedral, founded in 1880, during the celebration of the 500th anniversary of the founding of the monastery. The height of the dome of the Holy Trinity Cathedral reaches 68 meters, up to 7000 people can pray in it at the same time.
The oldest building of the monastery is the bell tower, which is called the "Ugresha candle". The height of the bell tower reaches 77 meters. The three-tiered bell tower was built in 1761. In 1859, it was built up to 7 tiers. Nearby is the Assumption Church and the Tsar Chambers of 1763. In total, there are 10 temples and 3 chapels on the territory of the Nikolo-Ugreshsky Monastery.
